Musical toy for a baby bottle

ABSTRACT

A soft toy made from an elastic rubber and having the shape of a small animal or character appealing to a baby, where the soft toy includes a flexible loop that can secure the soft toy to a middle section of a baby bottle without covering up most of the bottle so that the amount of liquid within the bottle can be observed yet the soft toy is large enough to appeal to a baby. The soft toy includes a small opening for insertion of a pacifier and a push button that when activated will play a sound such as a melody appealing to a baby.

GOVERNMENT LICENSE RIGHTS

None.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a baby bottle, and more specifically to a musical toy that fits around a baby bottle.

2. Description of the Related Art including Information Disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

A baby bottle is used to feed a small child. The baby bottle includes a bottle section that is filled with milk, and a nibble that is removably secured to an open end of the bottle on which the baby will such the milk out from the bottle. A typical baby bottle is plain or with some cartoon characters printed on the outer surface for a visual display. Another bottle holder is a stuffed animal with a hole inside in which a bottle can be inserted to fully cover the bottle. This type of bottle holder is very bulky since the holder is much larger than the bottle so that a baby has difficulty in holding the bottle and cannot even see the bottle.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A soft toy in the shape of an object appealing to a baby is made from an elastic rubber with an elastic loop that is wrapped around the bottle to secure the soft toy on an outer surface of the bottle. the soft toy is much smaller than the bottle so that the baby can easily grasp the bottle yet the toy is large enough to catch the attention of the baby.

The soft toy includes a button in the area of the belly of the animal that, when pushed, will produce a sound such as a musical melody that is appealing to a baby. The mouth of the animal includes an opening in which a small pacifier can be secured and held until the baby wants to suck on the pacifier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the soft toy of the present invention secured onto a baby bottle.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the soft toy of the present invention secured onto a baby bottle.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a second embodiment of the soft toy of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a pacifier that is attached to the soft toy of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a soft toy that is removably attached to a baby bottle that is small enough to not interfere with a baby handling the bottle for feeding, but large enough to capture the attention of a baby. The soft toy can be in the shape of a cartoon character or an animal or any object that would capture the attention of a baby. The soft toy is made from an elastic rubber material so that it is flexible, water proof, easy to clean and keep clean, and safe for handling with a baby.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention with a soft toy 13 in the shape of a bear attached to a bottle 12 that includes a nibble 11 on which the baby will feed from. The soft toy 13 includes a flexible loop on the back side that wraps around the bottle 12 to secure the soft toy 13 in place on an outer surface of the bottle 12 such as in the middle. The soft toy 13 includes an opening such as in a location of a mouth of the animal into which a pacifier 14 is inserted to hold the pacifier on the soft toy 13. The pacifier 14 is then easily removed from the soft toy 13 by pulling the pacifier away. The soft toy 13 also includes a push button 15 that is connected to an electronic circuit formed within the soft toy 13 that will play a sound such as a musical melody appealing to a baby. When the button 15 is pushed, a sound will play for a short period of time.

The soft toy 13 is made from an elastic rubber material so that the soft toy is waterproof, clean and easy to clean, and safe to handle for a baby. The elastic rubber will also allow for the soft toy 13 to be removed from the bottle and secured onto the bottle but yet allow for the soft toy to remain on the bottle when handled by an adult or a baby.

FIG. 2 shows a rear view of the soft toy 13 secured on to the bottle of FIG. 1. The soft toy 13 has a front side and a back side (with a shape of the back side of the animal or character) with the elastic loop connecting the two sides together so that the two sides can be secured over the bottle without to much effort yet allow for the soft toy 13 to be removed from the bottle. in another embodiment, the soft toy 13 can have only a front side with the elastic loop extending from the back of the front side for securing the side to the bottle.

The soft toy 13 is sized and shaped to fit around a middle section of the bottle so as not to cover all or most of the surface area of the bottle, yet the soft toy 13 is large enough to present an appealing object to a baby while handling the bottle for feeding. The soft toy 13 is small enough to that an amount of liquid in the bottle can be observed with the soft toy secured in place on the bottle 12. In the FIG. 3 embodiment of the present invention, a soft toy 23 includes an opening 24 on the top end in which a bottle 12 can be inserted such that the nipple 11 will extend out from the soft toy 13 for the baby to feed from. The soft toy 13 includes the opening 14 for a pacifier and a push button 15 to play a sound when activated. The soft toy 23 is also made from an elastic rubber for reasons described above. In the FIG. 3 embodiment, the soft toy 23 is larger than the first embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a view of a pacifier 16 that is sized and shaped to be inserted into the opening 14 of the soft toy 13 or 23 in order to hold the pacifier but allow the pacifier to be easily removed from the opening 14. The sucking part of the pacifier 16 is what is inserted into the opening 14 of the toy 13 or 23. 

I claim the following:
 1. A soft toy for securing to a baby bottle, the soft toy comprising: a front side having a shape of a character appealing to a baby; the soft toy formed from an elastic rubber; a flexible loop extending from a back side of the soft toy to secure the soft toy to the bottle; the soft toy having a size small enough compared to the bottle so that a level of fluid within the bottle can be observed while the soft toy is secured in place to the bottle.
 2. The soft toy of claim 1, and further comprising: a small opening on a front side of the soft toy for insertion of a pacifier; and, a pacifier inserted into the small opening.
 3. The soft toy of claim 2, and further comprising: the character is an animal; and, the small opening for the pacifier is in a location of a mouth of the animal.
 4. The soft toy of claim 1, and further comprising: a push button located on a front side of the small toy; and, an electronic circuit within the soft toy and connected to the push button to play a sound when the button is pushed.
 5. The soft toy of claim 4, and further comprising: the character is an animal; and, the push button is in a location of a belly button of the animal. 